


Ain't No Mountain High Enough

by cryptidkickflip



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bouldering AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-03-20 13:42:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18993790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptidkickflip/pseuds/cryptidkickflip
Summary: When Nyx, a night guard for a warehouse, chooses to spend his hours guarding lawn chairs by watching viral videos of a guy climbing big rocks, he decides it's about time he gets a new hobby. He signs up for a local bouldering gym and meets a few new friends, but he can't imagine why that Noctis guy looks really familiar...





	1. Maybe Four A.M Is A Bad Time To Get A New Hobby

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taurussieben](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taurussieben/gifts).



> taurus, you freakin' rock, my dude. 
> 
> you listen to my rants about zines, you are so supportive, and i can't wait to see what you write next.
> 
> keep on bein' you!

Nyx took a sip of his coffee as the next video loaded.

 

The front door hadn’t opened in two hours, and that had been when he’d opened it to come in for his shift. Not that he was expecting it to. It was two a.m. on a Thursday. Nobody was ever going to come to a warehouse storing plastic lawn chairs at two in the fucking morning on a Thursday.

 

Some days he wondered why he even took the job at all.

 

He’d gone from the end of his tour in the Army, running and fighting for more lives than just his own, to trying to figure out how in the hell GrubHub worked.

 

This shit was for the birds.

 

The video finally decided to load, a side-effect of hitting his monthly data cap, and he popped his earbud back in.

 

He was on this kick of watching other people do sports.

 

It didn’t _sound_ like it was going to be satisfying, not at first. He couldn’t even sit through a whole football game without getting bored.

 

But there was just something about this guy.

 

He’d been in an internet black hole, watching videos of people making sushi and people talking about their trips abroad when a video about bouldering popped up in the recommended section.

 

Nyx had clicked it on a whim, and that’s how he ended up falling for the channel at large.

 

From what Nyx could tell, it was just some guy climbing around on rocks while wearing a headcam. He always wore dark joggers and a dark tee shirt, but beyond that, Nyx didn’t know anything about him _or_ bouldering.

 

There was some kind of techno music over the video that Nyx couldn’t say he hated, either.

 

His watch history quickly piled up with video upon video of this guy in all kinds of gorgeous places, never speaking, never showing his face.

 

But Nyx marveled at the way he quickly, effortlessly, scaled huge rocks and cliffs.

 

The videos helped him get through the long nights.

 

On a whim, he closed out of the video and looked up the nearest bouldering gym. There happened to be one pretty close by, only about a half an hour into the city.

 

The membership fee was a little steep, but due to his weird hours at work, he never really went out aside from getting groceries at the nearest 24-hour mart, so he had the funds…

 

He signed up for a month.

 

It was open 24-hours as well, a perk of living in a big city like Insomnia. Everything was either open late, early, or just all night long. With a name like Insomnia, it was a little expected.

 

He spent the rest of his shift drinking the cheap coffee from the back room and watching the last few videos on that guy’s channel. He was pretty popular, so he updated every other day with a new video.

 

In the comments, he’d been teasing some kind of beginner’s how-to series, and Nyx was really looking forward to seeing what the guy looked like.

 

When Nyx got off of work, he went back to his apartment and put together a gym bag. The video guy wore these weird looking shoes that it seemed like he had an endless supply. Some were pointy, some were flat, some had laces, some didn’t.

 

In the comments, he’d explained that different shoes were for different surfaces.

 

He spent a load of time just answering people’s questions and chatting in the comments. It didn’t matter that he had thousands of them; he just took the time to talk to almost everyone that talked to him.

 

Nyx frowned at his shoe selection. The closest he was going to get was a pair of black high-topped Chuck Taylors that were about sixteen thousand years old.

 

He could feel the pavement under the soles when he wore them, so he figured it was close enough.

 

He tossed those, a water bottle, and some shorts and a tee shirt into his gym bag before snacking on an apple on the way out the door.

 

Nyx planned on getting to the gym before he could lose his nerve. Signing up was a little impulsive, he’d probably agree, but he hadn’t really done much socialization outside of Libs and Crowe. They were always harassing him to go and do something, anything.

 

He hoped rock climbing would count as anything.

 

When he finally made it to the gym, after getting lost in the upscale neighbourhood where it sat three times, he pulled his car into a spot and found the welcome email before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

 

“Hello!” The desk attendant called. “How are you?”

 

“I’m fine,” Nyx replied, taking a look around. “I, uh, signed up online earlier?”

 

“Oh! Is it your first time?” The girl asked, opening a binder on the desk.

 

“Yep,” Nyx said, holding out the email. “I’ve got my confirmation number…”

 

“Oh, you really _just now_ signed up, huh?” She said, grinning up at him. “You must be excited to get started… Nyx?”

 

“That’s me,” He chuckled.

 

“Are you a beginner?” She asked, pulling out a few pieces of paper for him to read and sign. He did so as he nodded.

 

“Yep. I’ve just been watching some videos, figured I needed some exercise,” He mused, signing a sheet that reminded him that if he broke both of his legs, it was his own damn fault.

 

“Well, you came to the right place,” The girl laughed. “The changing rooms are back there, we don’t allow any kind of street shoes on the mats, and as a platinum member, you have free access to any of the classes as well as a discount in the pro shop!”

 

“Pro shop,” Nyx smirked. “I don’t think I’m going to be shopping for anything for pros just yet. Are… Are these alright for shoes?” He dug out the sad Chucks from his bag. “I didn’t wear ‘em outside,”

 

“Don’t wear them outside before you come, and you’ll be fine,” The girl said, shaking her head. “You’ll get along with Noctis.” She said, peering out into the gym. “He’s got mountains of fancy shoes for climbing and what does he wear here? Chucks.”

 

She motioned at a dark-haired guy making his way across a rock wall, the angle so extreme that he was nearly climbing parallel to the ground. A blonde guy was filming him, following him on the ground as he climbed.

 

“Well, I don’t have any mountains of shoes. Just the Chucks,” He dropped them back into his bag and shot her a wave. “Thanks for the help…?”

 

“Lunafreya,” She said, waving back. “Have fun! Don’t hesitate to come ask me any questions!”

 

Nyx went into the changing room and took off his work uniform and got into his gym clothes. Thinking critically about it, if he was serious about this, he’d probably have to invest in some of those tights the guy usually wore on his channel.

 

He wandered out of the changing room and went to stand by the class sign up sheets.

 

All of the classes seemed to be in the daytime and considering he would be getting off work at four in the morning most nights and hoping to go to bed before ten in the morning, that wasn’t going to happen. He frowned and wandered into the gym.

 

He’d watched enough videos, right? He could _probably_ hack it…

 

“Are you new here?” The blonde guy had wandered closer to him. “I’ve never seen anybody else here at ass o’clock in the morning before.”

 

“Yeah. I just signed up tonight.” Nyx admitted.

 

“Prom?” The guy climbing called. “Did you… You didn’t get that shot, did you?” He sighed.

 

“Uh, sorry, dude!” Prom, apparently, yelled back. “There’s a new guy!”

 

“Hi, new guy,” The brunette called. “Should I… Turn around? I don’t think I can… Ah, fuck it,” The guy dropped from the ledge and rolled out his shoulders. “My shoe was coming undone anyway.”

 

“You could always try, I don’t know…” Prom trailed off, his face twisting in faux consideration. “Wearing your million dollar climbing shoes?”

 

“They’re not a million dollars,” The guy grumbled, crouching to tie his shoe. Nyx noticed that they, too, were a pair of basic black Chuck Taylors.

 

“Hey, the man’s got good taste,” Nyx chuckled, gesturing down at his feet. Prom sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’m Nyx.”

 

“Noctis,” The other man said, standing and offering his hand for Nyx to shake. “That’s Prompto.”

 

“Heya!” Prompto called, already back by the camera on its tripod and fiddling with the settings.

 

“So you’re new here?” Noctis asked, crossing his arms and cocking his head at Nyx. The scrutinizing stare made Nyx raise an eyebrow at Noctis. He wasn’t sure if he was being sized up, studied, or checked out.

 

“Yeah. I watch these videos on the internet all the time,” Nyx trailed off. No need to tell this incredibly handsome man that he was a shut-in. “Anyway, I just need to start getting more exercise and figured this was the coolest way to do it.”

 

“You’re right about that,” Noctis said, cracking a slight smile. “Climbing is great, works your whole body out. We have beginner classes,” He said, squinting at Nyx. “But it doesn’t look like you’re going to come in at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday.”

 

“Nope,” Nyx chuckled, popping the ‘p’. “I work overnights, so this is right after my usual shift.”

 

“Right. I’m just a gremlin, so…” Noctis trailed off, putting a hand on the back of his neck. “You know what, I could maybe… Teach you a thing or two, if you wanted. I’m usually in at this time, and I kinda… I’m trying to film something, for beginners.”

 

“Oh, yeah?” Nyx asked, smirking at Noctis. “Am I a guinea pig?”

 

“Could be,” Noctis replied, motioning toward a wall that was just a few rock handholds on a gently sloped wall. “Want to give it a shot?”

* * *

 

 

Noct, as Nyx was now calling him, ran him through the wringer for an entire hour before Nyx dropped down off the wall at Noct’s call to end the session.

 

“You lasted longer than I thought you would, new guy,” Noctis smirked. Nyx took a long drag of his water before pulling his sweat-soaked tee shirt off over his head, wiping his face with it.

 

Noctis swallowed once, hard, and Prompto turned the camera away from the pair.

 

Another point in the ‘checking Nyx out’ box, if you would.

 

Prompto had been filming the entire time as Noctis gave him tips and corrections. Noctis _said_ that it’d be used as a beginner’s guide if Nyx didn’t mind, but Nyx didn’t think that it’d be much of a training guide in bouldering when it was _clearly_ a beginner’s guide in UST. 

 

Noctis had yet to make any kind of move beyond gently gripping his ankle and turning his foot on one of the footholds. 

 

Nyx didn't want to be presumptuous, but he wasn't going to give up, either. He'd come back to this gym every night if he had to.

 

“I’m no shrinking violet,” Nyx drawled. “Think you can give me a real challenge tomorrow?”

 

“Deal.”


	2. Maybe Four A.M. Is A Bad Time To Meet Your Crush's Best Friends

“When’s this video going to go up?” Nyx asked from the ground of the gym. He eyed the camera tripod wearily.

 

It had dogged every step that he took for the past week, Prompto behind it.

 

For somebody as withdrawn as Nyx, Prompto was… A lot. Noctis was more Nyx’s speed, quiet, sarcastic, and funny as all hell but relatively low maintenance. Nyx liked Prompto, though. More than he expected to like somebody as loud as Libertus but as energetic as Crowe.

 

Noctis looked a little worried at the question, so Prompto, ever-ready to jump in front of anything that made Noct nervous chuckled at Nyx.

 

“Don’t worry, Nyx. I got your good sides if that’s what you’re asking.” Nyx sat up just enough to take another gulp of water.

 

“I was just wondering, is all,” Nyx said, laying back down and shutting his eyes. “Seems like an awful lot of footage for what, a half an hour long video?”

 

“We had to edit some stuff,” Prom said, shrugging and fiddling with his camera. “You’d be surprised how little you can actually use. Gotta make sure your form’s right on the money, gotta make sure one of you two goobers aren’t in the other’s way, gotta make sure I’m framing it right. I’m pretty sure having to take like, nine thousand shots is the only reason why Noct is so good,”

 

“Hey,” Noctis butted in, swatting at Prom’s shoulder. “Certainly not the fact that I’ve been doing this for years or anything.”

 

“Naw. Definitely not that.” Prompto said, returning Noct’s slap soundly. “Get _up_ , Nyx. We can still be filming.”

 

“Film one of your voiceovers. I’m old and my ass hurts.”

 

Noctis snorted.

 

“Work on your grip strength,” He said, tossing another water bottle out of the cooler at Nyx. “Then maybe you wouldn’t fall on it so often.”

 

“I’m taping a pillow to it for tomorrow, if you’re going to make me climb that thing again,” Nyx gestured at the wall he’d been bested by a few minutes prior. It started out innocently enough; a gentle slope forward, making it easy to climb, and plenty of bigger hand and footholds.

 

Once the climber gained some altitude, however, it took a violent slope backwards, forcing the climber to forgo footholds almost entirely and use their upper body strength to move them around.

 

“No!” Prompto laughed. “It’ll ruin the whole video. No ass pillows.”

 

“What in the _hell_ did we walk in on?” A new voice called from the doorway.

 

“Tell me the camera isn’t rolling,” A second new voice sighed from the same direction.

 

Nyx sat up.

 

A tall, lithe man in slacks and a button-up shirt eyed him calculatingly from behind glasses with a square rim, while an even taller man grinned at him and offered him a hand up.

 

Nyx took the hand and was yanked off the ground and onto his feet in one smooth movement. The guy didn’t even look like he’d _tried_ to lift all of limp, dead-weight Nyx off the ground and was already moving to clap Prompto on the back.

 

Nyx winced and braced for impact, but the guy had a handle on his strength, demonstrated by the fact that Prompto wasn’t peeling himself off the wall opposite.

 

“Iggy! Gladio! What are you guys doing here so late? It’s like, four thirty in the morning!” Prompto called, making Nyx wonder which one was ‘Iggy’ and which one was ‘Gladio’.

 

The skinny one took care of that problem for him by coolly sticking out a gloved hand.

 

“Ignis Scientia.” He offered as he and Nyx shook. His grip was either a little tighter than Nyx expected, or that last attempt at the bastard wall took more out of him than he thought.

 

“Nyx Ulric.” He replied.

 

Ignis looked like he wanted to question him further, but the other one (Nyx assumed he was Gladio) came back over to Nyx and sized him up.

 

“Little bulky for this kinda stuff,” He commented, gesturing at the rock wall. “Noct says it’s better to be scrawny like him. Makes you easier to lift.”

 

“I’m not _scrawny_ ,” Noctis sighed, with every ounce of irritation of someone that had had this argument before and hated it. “I’m _lean_.”

 

“Lean. Right.” Gladio drawled. “What do you usually do to get into shape like that?”

 

“Basic,” Nyx said, shrugging and putting a hand on the back of his neck. “Just got home from a four-year tour.”

 

Gladio shook his hand, pulling him in for a back-slapping hug.

 

“I know the feeling. You going back?” He asked.

 

“I… Don’t know yet. I’m a security guard right now…”

 

“You gettin’ bored?” Gladio asked, humour in his eyes.

 

“Oh, yeah.” Nyx sighed, laughing a little. “Graveyard shift, nobody ever comes in… I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

 

“I got home and went and got my personal training license,” Gladio told him. “I did security before that, too. Training is… Better, a little. Sure beats security. If you want to talk about it, let me know.” He offered.

 

“Thanks,” Nyx replied, wondering what made Gladio offer a pure stranger an ear to bend. “I really appreciate it.”

 

“Anything for this famed Nyx Ulric,” Gladio said, laughing and turning to squeeze a rapidly reddening Noctis’s shoulders. “Kid won’t shut up about ya,”

 

“ _GLADIO_!” Noctis protested. “Ignore him,” Noct said to Nyx. “He’s like the older brother I never had. _OR WANTED._ ”

 

The jibe just made Gladio laugh and make his way toward Prompto, who quickly began to chatter at him about another series of videos that it seemed that Prompto was filming for Gladio.

 

Did everybody have YouTube channels around here?

 

“Noctis, a word?” Ignis asked, taking a manila folder out from under his arm. “We wouldn’t have come here this early if it wasn’t urgent, but…” He cut his eyes at Nyx, who promptly got the hint.

 

“I’ll just… You know, maybe I _will_ go see if they got a pair of them shoes that’ll fit me in the shop,” Nyx had no intention of dropping that kind of money on a pair of shoes that didn’t even have any real sole to them, but he figured Luna could _at least_ tell him what the hell was afoot here.

 

He’d gotten pretty friendly with her over the past week, and he knew when he was being dismissed. On no uncertain terms was Ignis going to tell Noct what he needed to tell him while Nyx was standing there.

 

Nyx didn’t want to pry, but damn did that dismissal get him right in the ego.

 

He leant on the counter in front of Luna.

 

“Oh, kicked out, were we?” Luna asked sympathetically.

 

“Yep,” Nyx drawled, grimacing self-deprecatingly at the sting of the boot to his ass. “So, who are those guys, anyway?”

 

“Well, Ignis is… Ignis,” Luna laughed. “He manages Noctis’s bit of Noctis’s father’s company. Keeps Noctis in line, you know.” Nyx squinted but left well enough alone. He didn’t want to _pry,_ but… Boy, did he want to pry. “And Gladio is Ignis’s boyfriend.”

 

“Oh, very cool,” Nyx said, sitting down on the stool in front of the desk. “I told ‘em I was going to come look at those damn shoes.”

 

“Do you actually want to look at the shoes?” Luna asked, deadpan.

 

“No,” He laughed. “I just wanted to save face. How lame does ‘I’m going to leave and let the big boys talk,’ sound?” Luna laughed with him, shaking his head.

 

“I’m sorry, I should have warned you earlier. They called about a half-hour ago to see if Noctis was still here.” Nyx rolled his eyes.

 

“Look at you, you traitor,” Luna laughed harder at the accusation. “How could you! Now I’m in the time-out corner and I look like a doofus.”

 

“I doubt Noct thinks you look like a doofus,” Luna said, grinning and leaning on the counter. Nyx blinked at her, trying to act innocent. “Don’t give me that look. Why else would you come in every single day at three thirty in the morning?”

 

“I… Work nights?” Nyx asked. “What if I really, really love climbing?”

 

“I’m not _judging_ you,” Luna laughed, waving a hand at him. “I’m just saying… I don’t think Noct thinks you look like a doofus. I may be saying that the opposite is true.”

 

Nyx couldn’t help but look through the glass doors of the gym toward Noct. He was nodding along to something that Ignis was saying, looking at the paperwork in front of him with a small pout. He was adorable, Nyx decided, and sure as hell not for the first time.

 

“Right.” He said. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Luna laughed and shook her head at him.

 

“Alright, alright. We’ll see.” Ignis and Gladio waved their goodbyes after Ignis collected a few signatures from Noctis with a pen pulled from his pocket.

 

“Guess we will,” Nyx said, moving to go back into the gym. “Loser buys drinks?”

 

“Deal.”


	3. Maybe Four A.M. Is A Bad Time To Drunk Text Your Crush

Libertus carried the glasses back to the table with poise and grace that one wouldn’t expect a man of his stature to possess. It came from years of practice at the bar, and it rewarded him well; he didn’t spill a drop.

 

“So he’s a hotshot, is what you’re saying?” He drawled, sliding the glasses in front of Crowe and Nyx. Nyx took a long drag of the beer before he responded.

 

“I mean, it’s his dad’s company.”

 

“And you still don’t know what company it is?” Crowe asked, taking a small sip of her own drink. “Have you tried looking him up?”

 

“I only know his first name,” Nyx said, shaking his head.

 

“There _can’t_ be that many guys named Noctis in Insomnia who has a rich dad,” Libertus said pragmatically while breaking open a peanut. “Or… Do you want to know?”

 

“Sure, I want to know,” Nyx replied immediately. The look that Crowe and Libs shared told him he didn’t sound as sure as he felt. “I guess, I mean… Maybe he’ll tell me when he’s ready?”

 

“Aren’t you supposed to be down there now?” Libertus asked, raising an eyebrow at Nyx.

 

“What are you, my mom? It’s not like I have an appointment or anything,” Nyx replied, sliding his gaze to the neon-lighted clock on the wall. 3:45 in the morning. More than forty-five minutes later than he’d been in three weeks.

 

After the meeting that Noctis had had with Ignis and Gladio, he seemed a little more reserved. Prompto had declared their first video almost done at the beginning of that week, but then neither of them had commented on it again since. It was really niggling at Nyx. There was something that he didn’t know, something that Noct didn’t want to tell him.

 

Their texts had run dry earlier that day.

 

The last thing that Nyx had asked was if he even had to come into the gym anymore since the video was finished.

 

Noctis had never replied.

 

“Maybe he wasn’t actually into you, after all,” Libertus said, shrugging once. “Is that a crime?”

 

“No,” Nyx said slowly. “I just… I was hoping, you know?”

 

“Yeah, rejection’s always tough,” Crowe said bracingly. “Let’s play some pool. Think about something else for a change.”

 

“Leave the phone _here_ , loverboy. He’ll reply when he replies.” Libertus ordered as they stood up to make for the pool table.

 

“If you look at that phone before we get done with our game, you have to close the bar down for a week,” Crowe ordered, flipping Nyx’s phone face down on the table.

 

“Deal.”

* * *

 

Noctis flopped over the arm of the couch, one hand gripping the wine glass and the other arm draped dramatically over his eyes.

 

“Noct,” Prompto sighed. “One day isn’t the end of the world.”

 

“He texted me earlier and asked if that was all we needed him for, Prom,” Noctis huffed. “He thinks we were just using him to film.”

 

“That’s because you never _talked to him_ ,” Prompto grumbled, shaking Noctis’s knee and almost making him spill the red wine on the white carpet. “Tell him, Iggy!”

 

“If you never told him you were interested, how could you expect him to know?” Ignis asked gently. “Why don’t you just text him back?”

 

“He must have texted me right at the start of his shift,” Noctis said. “It’s too late now, and he never came to the gym. He probably hates me.”

 

“He doesn’t hate you,” Gladio scolded with a little chuckle. “You just have to ask him out.”

 

“I _just_ have to ask him _out_? _Just?!_ ” Noctis asked exasperatedly. “You make it sound so easy,”

 

“How did you and Ignis get together, Gladio?” Prompto asked, changing the subject to give Noctis a minute to breathe. And drink. Mostly drink, Prompto hoped.

 

“Gladiolus and I both worked for Noctis’s father,” Ignis supplied. “That was when Gladiolus what Noctis’s bodyguard.”

 

“Who asked who out first?” Prompto asked.

 

“Iggy asked me,” Gladio replied. “I didn’t even think he _liked_ me, let alone wanted to get dinner.”

 

“Well, you do have a certain charm, dear,” Ignis sniffed, standing to get the bottle of wine from the counter. Prompto laughed at Gladio’s eyeroll. Ignis refilled Noctis’s glass and sat back down, offering Gladio another glass. “Maybe you should just text him back and let him know that he’s still welcome, even though the first video is done.”

 

“It’s not too late?” Noctis asked, peering out from under his arm.

 

“Of course not,” Ignis said, waving his hand at Noctis. “Any answer is better than no answer.”

 

“If you text Nyx, I’ll text Cindy,” Prompto offered.

 

Noctis eyed him wearily. He’d heard Prompto say he was going to text Cindy a thousand times before, but Prompto actually had his phone at the ready this time.

 

Noctis reached for his phone.

 

“Deal.”

 

**Noctis [4:12am]: Hey, sorry I replied so late. Sure, the first video’s done, but you can still come to the gym, haha. Where were you tonight?**

**Noctis [4:25am]: Not like, not that I have to know or anything. Just wondering.**

**Noctis [4:43am]: Anyway, we missed you there.**

**Noctis [4:52am]: Well, I missed you there.**

**Noctis [5:01am]: See you.**


	4. Maybe Four A.M. Isn't Such A Bad Time For A Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> taurus, my dude. 
> 
> thank you so, so much for everything! i'm glad i could finally finish this for you. i hope it's everything you wanted!
> 
> you ROCK. pun intended.

Nyx sat as his post, his feet up on the desk. As usual. The chairs sat, quiet and unmoving in the dark. As usual. Nyx’s phone played those bouldering videos, one after the other. As usual. The coffee was cheap, but it was hot and got the job done. As usual. If it got any more usual around there any time soon, Nyx was going to come unglued.

 

He’d been moving on autopilot all day. Well, night. Crowe hadn’t texted him and told him to come close up shop, so he was assuming that he didn’t text Noctis all night.

 

The little indicator hovering over his text app sealed the deal. He still had five texts waiting from Noctis that he didn’t have the heart to open.

 

All he had was a hangover and a vague memory of a third round of pool.

 

He played the next video, a foul mood hanging over him.

 

It opened up with the same catchy tune, but what came into focus right at the start had him slamming his feet down on the floor with a loud _thud_ , his coffee going everywhere.

 

It was the gym. _The_ gym. The one he’d spent the last three weeks at every single night.

 

Well, almost every night. The night before was the first one he’d missed.

 

It was _Noctis_. Holy fuck, it was Noctis!

 

“Hi, everyone. We’re going to do something a little different today,” Noctis said. He clearly looked a little uncomfortable with speaking on camera. At the time, Nyx had chalked it up to being his first time filming, but clearly, that wasn’t the case.

 

It was only his first time _talking_. He had filmed hundreds, if not thousands of times before.

 

_Because this was Noctis’s channel._

 

Nyx walked into frame and waved to Prom behind the camera. Nyx _remembered_ this. They’d filmed this literally a week ago. Holy _shit!_

 

“We’re going to be doing an introductory video. So many of you guys have asked for this, so me and my… Friend, Nyx, are going to show you the ropes. He’s an actual beginner, so you guys can get a real feel for the kinds of things that you’ll need to know when you’re first starting out.”

 

The hot coffee began to seep into his uniform as he watched footage from the first night they’d met.

 

He… He was on a _video_.

 

Holy shit, this must have been why Noctis had been so nervous when he asked about when the video was going to be posted.

 

Nyx was mildly internet famous if the view count and comments were anything to go by.

 

He had to talk to Noctis.

 

Maybe this was why he’d been so damn cagey this whole week. Maybe he didn’t want to tell Nyx something like this. How were you supposed to say out loud, “Oh, I’m famous on YouTube, and you just filmed a video that I’m going to post on my account with over three million subscribers.”

 

Nyx got up and numbly patted the stain on his pants.

 

He felt like his inner monologue was repeating itself but… _Holy shit._

 

He opened the texts from Noctis and read them, one eye on the time.

 

One hour until he could drive directly to the gym and see Noctis, face to face.

 

Just one more hour.

* * *

Noctis got a stronger grip on Pryna’s lead.

 

“They really don’t mind being up this late?” He asked, gesturing at Pryna and Umbra.

 

“They’re used to my schedule,” Luna said lightly. “And stop changing the subject. You didn’t tell him beforehand?”

 

“No,” Noctis said slowly. “I couldn’t think of how to say it.”

 

“You just could have shown him your account,” Luna replied. “He may have said no, but that’s his right. What if he didn’t want that kind of attention?”

 

“You think he found out, and that’s why he stopped coming?” Noctis asked balefully. Luna stayed quiet. She didn’t know what to think. “Man, I really screwed it up this time.”

 

“No, I don’t think it’s over. But I _do_ think you two need to talk.” Luna said gently. “He really seemed to like you.”

 

“I like him, too. It’s just… It’s weird.”

 

“What is?”

 

“He didn’t know, you know? It was nice. I wasn’t some rich kid to him.” Noctis shrugged. “It was nice, him not knowing.”

 

“Do you think he’d treat you any different?” Luna asked. Noct looked over to her briefly as Pryna sniffed at a plant. The question seemed genuine to him, and if anybody knew Luna better than her brother, it was Noctis.

 

“No, probably not. He didn’t act weird about Iggy and Gladio coming, right?” He finally replied.

 

“No. He was just curious.” Noctis digested that as they walked.

 

“You think I could text him again? He never responded from last night.”

 

“Maybe he was sleeping.” Luna offered. “He should be getting off of work soon.” Noctis nodded.

 

“Yeah. In about a half an hour.”

 

“Then try to text him then. Don’t give up on him yet.”

* * *

Nyx slid into the gym earlier than he’d ever gotten there in the past. He had the bag he was supposed to bring the night before, full of gym clothes and his Chucks, and he got changed at lightning speed.

 

He came out to a different person behind the counter.

 

A man with long, white hair, pulled back into a ponytail stood and scrolled lazily on his phone.

 

“Sign in.” He ordered, a bored tone to his voice.

 

“Uh, where’s… Where’s Luna?” Nyx asked, taking the pencil from the counter.

 

“My sister? Not here.” The man informed him.

 

“Oh. Okay,” Nyx said peering into the gym. It was empty. “And Noct?”

 

“Also not here.” The man replied. “Who are you? Am I supposed to know you?”

 

Nyx’s heart sunk.

 

“I’m… Nobody. Nevermind.” Nyx replied, turning on his heel. He made his way into the gym.

 

Even if he couldn’t talk to Noctis, he figured he’d get his workout in. May as well let off some steam before he had to try and go to sleep.

* * *

“He still didn’t respond?” Luna asked, looking up from where she was feeding the dogs.

 

“Nope,” Noctis sighed. “I think I’m going to go home.”

 

“Alright, Noct,” Luna said, leaning in for a hug. “I’m sorry this turned out like it did. I’m going to call Ravus and check on the gym, then I’m going to bed, too.”

 

“Okay, Luna. Thanks for listening,” He said, hugging her back and turning to leave.

 

“Any time, Noct,” Luna replied, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

 

Pryna stopped Noctis at the door and laid down, rolling over onto her back and thumping her tail on the ground.

 

“What, you didn’t get enough belly rubs earlier?” Noctis asked, chuckling and bending down to pet her.

 

He heard Luna on the phone with Ravus as Umbra sensed his sister getting more pets and came to investigate.

 

“Everything going alright?” Luna paused as Umbra pushed his head into Noctis’s chest and insisted upon ear scratches. “Oh, someone came in? Somebody new?” Noctis paused. “Oh! It was? Wait, let me—Noctis!” Luna called as she jogged out into the foyer. “Nyx is at the gym!”

 

“He is?” Noctis asked, shooting to his feet. The dogs grumbled at him, but they allowed him to trot over to Luna and take the phone. “When did he come in?” He demanded into the speaker.

 

“Hello, Noctis. Nice to speak with you again.” Ravus sighed.

 

“Ravus,” Noctis said warningly.

 

“Only a few minutes ago. He’s climbing around in there now,”

 

“Luna, I’m going to—I’ve gotta go!”

 

“Go ahead!” Luna called as he leapt over Pryna. “Drive safely! Please!”

 

“Tell him not to let Nyx leave!” Noctis yelled as he vaulted into the car through the open top. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes!”

* * *

Nyx couldn’t figure out how to listen to music on his headphones and climb at the same time. The first attempt ended with him so tangled up in the cord that he _and_ his phone almost plummeted to the ground in a heap. So he climbed in silence, which wasn’t really all that great for the psyche.

 

His brain was chasing itself in circles.

 

He liked climbing. He really did. So he told himself that he could start waking up earlier and coming in before his shift. He could avoid Noctis and Company, climb in peace, and completely forget this whole thing ever happened.

 

Well, aside from the fact that he was now the co-star of a video that was rapidly reaching a hundred thousand views.

 

What if he came in when some other people were in the gym and they recognized him? Worse, he didn’t know Luna’s schedule. What if she was working when he stopped in and she tried to talk some sense into him?

 

He’d rather just never come back and walk off into the sunset, never having to face the fact that he had a crush on Noctis and Noctis didn’t have a crush on him back.

 

He dropped down from the wall.

 

When he thought it like that, it sounded childish.

 

He paid his fee. He could come here when he so desired. It didn’t matter that Noctis didn’t have a crush on him back, because they both got what they wanted. Noctis got his video and Nyx got his gym time. They were square.

 

But he didn’t want to quit, because as he mentioned before, he _really liked climbing_ …

 

He rolled out his shoulder and looked back up at the wall.

 

He could probably try it one more time before listening to his circular argument with himself drove him up the wall.

 

Nyx snorted as he realized he meant that literally _and_ figuratively.

 

He found his footholds and hoisted himself back up.

 

Noctis had told him that he had to work on his grip strength, and this was the wall that he really, really felt it on. His arms and shoulders burned as he used muscles that he never had to use before.

 

He wanted to reach away from the wall and wipe the sweat off his face, but he knew that if he let go now, he would just fall on the ground and bust his ass again.

 

His tailbone was only just starting to feel less like someone had hit it with a hammer, and he didn’t want to start that hell back up again. The chair at the warehouse was hardly cushy.

 

When the door slamming open to the gym startled him enough to make him slip, he thought ruefully that he should have just wiped his face. He ended up on the ground on his ass anyway.

 

“Jesus,” He groaned, pulling the neck of his shirt up over his head to mop the sweat away as he sat back up. “What in the—”

 

“Nyx!” Noctis’s voice echoed in the gym.

 

Nyx popped his head out of his shirt with a frown. It actually was Noctis, in the flesh.

 

He was standing in the doorway to the gym, huffing, with his hands braced on his knees.

 

“You’re here!” He called, standing back up and jogging over.

 

“I’m… here,” Nyx said, making his way to his feet with a pained hiss. Yep. Thaaaat’s a bruised tailbone. “What’s going on?”

 

“Have you… Did you… _Are you?_ ” Noctis asked, waving a hand in the air. “Shit.”

 

“Wow,” Nyx laughed. “Pick a question and stick to it, alright?” Noctis’s face broke into an embarrassed smile.

 

“I guess, yeah. I’m a little frazzled,” Noctis admitted. “In case that wasn’t, you know, obvious. Shit, okay. Did you see the video at all? Do you… Know?”

 

“That you’re the guy that I’ve been watching for months?” Nyx asked, deadpan. “It was a little weird, seeing my own face like that,”

 

“Oh, god,” Noctis wiped a hand down his face. “Yeah. About that.” Nyx crossed his arms and let him continue. “I should have told you.”

 

“Sure,” Nyx agreed.

 

“But I couldn’t think of the right way to say it, so can I just say everything at once?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“And I don’t want to freak you out or anything… It’s a wild thing to say out loud, that your dad owns a media network and everything, and I’ve never really had to like, tell anyone before—”

 

“Wait, your dad _owns a media network?_ ” Nyx asked, shaking his head.

 

“Yeah. The one that all of our videos are on?” Noctis replied, freezing in place.

 

“Our?” Nyx asked, blinking slightly.

 

“Well, sure. Iggy does cooking videos, Cindy does car repair, Luna does videos about her dogs… Oh man, I thought you knew that, too.”

 

“No,” Nyx drawled. “Are you _all_ famous?”

 

“A little?” Noctis replied, wincing. “Not like, super famous. Well, Ravus is a model, but he doesn’t count.”

 

“Who’s Ravus?” Nyx asked, looking around bewilderedly. Noctis sighed, wiping a hand down his face again.

 

“Let me start at the beginning, alright? My dad owns the media company. He let me start a YouTube channel when I met Prompto in high school. Prompto films everything for everybody. Ignis was just my manager when we first started out, then cooking videos got big, so he got into it too. I started dating Luna, her brother’s Ravus, out there, and Prom loves her dogs more than he loves me, I think, so he started filming them, and Luna ended up with a channel for Pryna and Umbra,”

 

Nyx’s heart fell out through his stomach.

 

Of _course_ he got a crush on a straight boy.

 

“And then Prom started talking to Cindy, and she works at a garage with her grandad, so Prom talked her into starting a channel because he was too scared to talk her into going on a date, and now they’re with us, too.” Noctis knew he was rambling now, but the look on Nyx’s face had only gotten more sour.

 

“Wow, that’s… That’s a lot,” Nyx replied, faking a little chuckle. “Does Ravus model for you, too?”

 

“No, no. He’s a model elsewhere. Too good for us,” Noctis said, shrugging. “He’s been mad at me since Luna and I broke up.”

 

“Oh?” Nyx asked, jamming his hands in his pockets.

 

“Yeah. She knew I was gay before I knew I was gay,” Noctis said, crossing his arms around his waist.

 

“Oh.” Nyx blinked in surprise. “ _Oh_ ,”

 

“Yeah, and… I guess, I… Okay, I didn’t just want to film a video with you,” Noctis blurted. “I want to hang out with you, like, for real, but I didn’t want to drop all of this onto you and have you freak out or be weird around us forever.”

 

“Okay.” Nyx said, spreading his hands.

 

“O… Okay?” Noctis asked.

 

“Okay. I do want to hang out with you.” Nyx reiterated, face breaking into a smile. “Shit, you had me going.”

 

“About what?”

 

“You really had me thinking I had a crush on a straight boy.”

 

Noctis froze for a moment. Then another. Then one more, just long enough that Nyx started to get nervous.

 

“Noct?”

 

“A crush?”

 

It was Nyx’s turn to freeze.

 

“I… Yeah?” He replied, unsure of where to go from there. He was _so close_ , and he had to go and blow it with his big fat mouth.

 

“Just kiss already!”

 

Noctis and Nyx whirled to find Ravus standing in the doorway to the gym. He rolled his eyes and turned to leave, huffing.

 

“God, you people are impossible. I’m calling my sister _and_ I’m leaving early. Quit making me cover her shifts!”

 

The front door slammed shut before Nyx or Noctis moved.

 

Noctis broke the silence with a little laugh before he turned back to Nyx, face red, as he scratched the back of his neck.

 

“Well, should we?” Nyx asked, grinning.

 

“Should we what?” Noct asked, taking a step closer to Nyx.

 

“Kiss already.”

 

“Before the first date?” Noctis asked, but he was already leaning into Nyx.

 

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” Nyx whispered, cupping Noctis’s cheek.

 

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come check me out on twitter at cryptidkickflip, where you can find all kinds of fun fandom nonsense! thanks for reading!


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